Lina Ashar

In Episode 8 of Where Passion Meets Education (WPME), Sandeep Dutt engages in a deep conversation with Lina Ashar, Founder Emeritus of Billabong High & Kangaroo Kids, Founder of Dreamtime Learning, TedX Speaker, Happiness Advocate, and Author.

Lina is passionate about children, learning, peace, happiness, self-mastery, creating a world of abundance, and questioning the status quo. Lina moved to India from Australia in 1991 to teach in Mumbai and was aghast by the antiquated approach to learning.

She established Kangaroo Kids and Billabong High Schools and successfully developed a learner-centric education system with a research-based curriculum, practical application of knowledge, and international standards. The schools that partnered with Lina and the brands operate in 17 cities in India and Dubai and Maldives.

Lina’s vision for social impact aims to educate 1 billion children. Like Nelson Mandela, she believes that “Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.” Read more about Lina: https://linaashar.com/

Lina Ashar sees exponential change happening that makes the traditional schooling model challenging. She suggests the focus should shift inwards, to helping children "master themselves, master their brains, master their hearts, master their being in a way that's authentically them." The emphasis should be on developing inner resilience and consciousness to navigate the uncertain future.

The Focus

• The focus is shifting from traditional schooling to passion-driven learning in the face of rapid technological change.

• Lina emphasizes the importance of developing internal mastery, resilience, and optimism in children to navigate uncertainty.

• The discussion highlights the need for balanced exposure to both nurturing and challenges in child development.

• There's a call for educating both the conscious and subconscious minds of children, avoiding negative programming.

Topics

The Shift from Schools to Passion-Driven Learning

• The conversation emphasizes the importance of passion in education, moving beyond conventional schooling.

• Lina stresses the need for resilience and seeing projects through, which passion enables.

Fueling Passion in Children

• Lina's approach involves allowing children to ask deeply curious questions.

• She aims to help children find their unique blueprints and express themselves authentically.

• The goal is to guide children in filling their emotional voids in ways that benefit humanity.

Adapting to Rapid Technological Change

• Discussion on the challenges posed by exponential technological advancements

• Emphasis on the need for internal mastery to cope with uncertainty

• Lina advocates for an optimistic mindset towards AI and other technological developments.

Child Development and Resilience

• Lina shares personal experiences of overcoming physical challenges and growing up with limited means.

• She emphasizes the importance of not "bubble-wrapping" children.

• Reference to a study showing that balanced exposure to both nurturing and challenges produces the most resilient individuals.

Balancing Reality and Virtual Reality

• Acknowledgment that perfect balance may not be achievable.

• Emphasis on teaching children about the effects of technology on their brain and emotional states.

• Encouraging informed decision-making regarding technology use

Moving Beyond Resilience to Anti-Fragility

• Lina introduces the concept of being "anti-fragile" - not just bouncing back, but growing stronger through adversity.

• Emphasis on teaching children to make opportunities out of adversity.

The key takeaways

• Sandeep believes traditional "schools" and "schooling" are dying/obsolete. He sees the future as being more about "passion and learning" rather than formal schooling.

• Lina emphasizes the need for children (and adults) to develop resilience, self-awareness, and an optimistic mindset to cope with the rapid, exponential changes happening in the world.

• Lina advocates moving away from "bubble wrapping" children and instead exposing them to some adversity/challenges to build their resilience and ability to adapt.

• Both Sandeep and Lina stress the importance of an "inward journey" of self-mastery, rather than just focusing on external knowledge acquisition.

• They suggest the future of learning should balance reality and virtual/digital elements, with a focus on helping people (especially children) understand how different inputs affect their brains and emotions.

• The overall vision seems to be a future of learning that is more personalized, resilience-focused, and centered on helping people develop self-awareness and the ability to adapt to rapid change, rather than just memorizing facts.